I Almost Did
by LittleMissCheerios
Summary: A sonfic based off Taylor Swift's I Almost Do.


_This was a song fic request from one of my very best friends. You probably assumed I forgot about this, didn't you? Well, guess what. I didn't. I never forget. So, Chan, this one's for you._

* * *

I pulled my little boy onto my lap and into my arms and told him I'd be up to tuck him in in a few minutes. He leaned back and placed his tiny hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Mom. You don't need to do that anymore." he said.

Surprised, I smiled and asked, "Why not, Babe?"

He smiled triumphantly and sat up a little taller. "I'm a big boy now."

"Yes, you are." I gently laughed.

He kissed my cheek and hopped from my lap then dashed up the stairs and closed his bedroom door.

"Oh, Jakey." I smiled shaking my head.

I slowly picked up the toys that had been left around the house today and went to the kitchen. The dinner dishes were still piled high in the sink. I thought I'd told Cheyenne and Kyra to wash and dry those then put them away for me. Next time I'd either have to do it myself or pay them.

I turned around upon hearing the front door open then quietly close and I made my way silently from the kitchen to the living room. "Hold it right there, little missy," I folded my arms. "Kyra, you were supposed to be home an hour ago. Do you have any idea how worried I was?" I exclaimed.

She stopped tip toeing up the stairs and turned to look me dead in the eyes. "Jenny's mom got pulled over." she said simply.

"Alright, then. You go on to bed and first thing tomorrow morning I'll call Jenny's mom and demand an apology for bringing my daughter home an hour late."

Kyra said nothing.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're diggin' yourself into a bigger hole, honey."

I saw her eyes flick past me. "Cheyenne borrowed your car to go to a party with Van then forgot to pick me up from Olivia's like she promised and I had to walk home." she said easily.

I groaned and dropped my arms to my sides. "Get to bed." I sighed.

Kyra sneered into the kitchen then glanced back at me with a smile. "Night, Mom. Sorry I was late." she said sweetly before continuing to the stairs.

I waited until I heard her door close before I spun around. "Cheyenne, get in here," I called. "Now."

She waltzed into the living room still dressed in her orange and white, Wildcats drill team uniform. "Thanks a lot, Kyra!" she hollered and threw her pompoms on the couch.

"Keep your voice down." I snapped and she grimaced. "Sit down." I ordered and she sat heavily in the arm chair before me. "How much did you have to bribe her to cover for you?" I asked.

"I can't believe she turned me in!"

"How. Much?" I demanded.

"Sixty dollars..."

I rolled my eyes. "You deserve that just as much as you deserve the two week grounding you're about to get."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"You wake up, you go to school, you come home. That's it. No Van and no drill team."

Her jaw dropped. "That's a little harsh!"

My eyes widened. "A little harsh? You stole my car and went to a party!"

"Borrowed." she corrected. "And we have a game next week, I have to go to practice or I'll be off the drill team!"

"Tough cookie." I said.

"Mom!" she protested.

"The least you could've done was pick up your little sister. She had to walk home all the way from Olivia's by herself."

"So, you're saying that if I'd picked up Kyra you wouldn't have been mad about me borrowing your car?"

I ran my hand over my face and sighed. "I don't know what I'm gonna do with you anymore. Get up stairs. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

She scoffed and snatched her pompoms from the sofa and stomped up the stairs. "I hate you!" she screamed.

"I know." I called after her.

I sat back on the arm of the couch and stared down at my wedding ring, spinning it around my finger. You were supposed to be here to help me when things like this happened. We were supposed to be a team. I sighed, this separation was a lot harder on me than I thought it was going to be. How did we get here? How had we fallen so far apart that a separation was the only answer? I know we'd said that space was the best thing for us, but now I wasn't so sure. Why didn't you stay and fight for us? I didn't want you to leave, you should've known that because I'd said it in the heat of the moment. I hadn't written it in stone.

Sighing as I made yet another pass from the living room to the kitchen I looked at my watch. It was getting late but I knew you'd still be up because you'd be just as tired from a long, hard week as I. In fact I bet you were sittin' in that old brown, worn out leather chair by the window looking out at the city. Were you're thinking about me too?

The thought crossed my mind again to call you and it took everything in me not to pick up the phone. What good would it do to tell you how much I wished I could run to you and feel your arms around me? I bet you think I either moved on or hate you because each time you reach out to me I don't respond. Honey, if I could stop giving you the cold shoulder I swear I would but I doubt it ever occurred to you that I can't say "hello" and risk another goodbye.

I wonder if you know that every night in my dreams you're touching my face and asking me if I wanna try again. I wonder if you know that every time I wake and see the mess we've made I think it's probably better off this way. Now, as I sit here holding the phone with your number punched in I wonder if you know that it's taking everything in me not to press send and I wonder if you know that I weep for us now, because I almost did.


End file.
